US President Donald Trump has again shared an AI-generated video depicting Iran’s Kharg Island being reduced to rubble, only hours after the United States and Iran exchanged attacks for the first time since last July.
Writing on Truth Social, Trump posted: “Kharg Island flattened.”
The US president had previously published a series of AI-generated images last month depicting simulated American military attacks on Iranian oil facilities.
One image, carrying the words “STRIKE ON KHARG”, showed fighter jets attacking oil export facilities on Iran’s Kharg Island, the country’s main outlet for crude oil exports and the point through which approximately 90 per cent of Iranian oil exports pass.
Why Is Kharg Island So Important?
Kharg Island is Iran’s most vital economic artery and one of the most important oil centres in the northern Gulf.
The island lies approximately 25 kilometres off the Iranian coast and around 55 kilometres northwest of the port of Bushehr. Administratively part of Iran’s Bushehr Province, it covers an area of around 20 square kilometres.
Its population is estimated at between 8,000 and 10,000 people, most of whom are employees of the National Iranian Oil Company, technical workers, or personnel serving the island’s military and service infrastructure.
Kharg’s overriding importance lies in its role as a financial lifeline for the Iranian state. Between 85 and 90 per cent of Iran’s total crude oil exports to global markets, particularly China and other Asian markets, pass through the island’s ports.
The island contains enormous storage tanks capable of holding tens of millions of barrels of crude oil. These facilities are connected by underwater pipelines to Iran’s major mainland oilfields, including Ahvaz, Marun and Gachsaran.
Kharg also benefits from deep waters that allow very large crude carriers to dock and load oil more easily than at many of Iran’s shallower coastal areas.
It also contains an airport, military bases and an air defence umbrella designed to protect its storage tanks and other installations.
Why Is the Island Being Targeted?
Kharg Island has emerged as one of the most prominent potential targets during the ongoing military escalation between the United States and the Israeli occupation on one side and Iran on the other.
Targeting it would be intended primarily to place severe economic pressure on Tehran.
Any direct strike on the island’s oil facilities could immediately disrupt most Iranian crude exports, potentially bringing the Iranian economy close to paralysis.
The island has already witnessed targeted strikes against military infrastructure and the air defence systems deployed to protect its port.
Despite the focus of military operations on weakening Iran’s military capabilities, international powers remain hesitant to completely destroy Kharg’s oil terminals because of the risk of triggering a severe shock in global oil prices or setting off a broader maritime war across the Gulf and the Strait of Hormuz.
Trump’s threats to strike and destroy Kharg Island are based on several political, economic and strategic calculations.
Cutting Off a Major Source of Iranian Revenue
Kharg Island is Iran’s primary crude oil export centre. Destroying its storage tanks and export terminals would deprive Tehran of a major source of oil revenue, placing the state under intense financial and economic pressure and threatening its ability to finance government institutions and secure essential imports.
Cutting Funding to the Revolutionary Guard
The threats are also aimed at restricting financial resources available to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, given its reliance on oil revenues, particularly proceeds from special oil shipments.
Targeting the infrastructure through which these exports pass would therefore seek to cut those resources off at their source.
A Deterrent and Tool of Political Pressure
Trump is also using the possibility of “targeting Kharg” as an instrument of psychological warfare and political pressure.
The threat is intended to extract concessions across several files and to impose new conditions as part of any future negotiations or broader settlement.
Complementing Financial Sanctions
The military threats also complement Washington’s financial restrictions and economic sanctions on banks and shipping companies involved in trading Iranian oil.
Under this approach, the possibility of military action becomes another tool for preventing Iran from circumventing sanctions or continuing to move oil through maritime smuggling networks.
Why Kharg Has Not Been Completely Destroyed
Despite repeated threats, several major considerations stand in the way of the immediate and comprehensive destruction of Kharg Island.
Global Energy Markets
A complete strike against the island’s oil infrastructure could generate a major shock across global energy markets and cause sharp increases in fuel prices.
Given the volume of Iranian crude passing through Kharg, destroying its export capacity could have consequences extending far beyond Iran itself.
Risk of an Environmental Disaster
Destroying storage tanks containing tens of millions of barrels of crude oil could cause a massive oil spill across Gulf waters.
Such a disaster would threaten neighbouring countries and could also affect desalination plants that provide essential water supplies across the region.
The Risk of Iranian Retaliation
A US decision to destroy Kharg Island could also prompt Tehran to retaliate against oil infrastructure and desalination facilities in neighbouring countries.
Such a response could transform an attack on Iran’s principal oil export hub into a much broader regional confrontation, making the destruction of Kharg a far more dangerous proposition than the repeated threats suggest.
